Background: The medical rounds are the most essential process in care of the hospitalized patients. If the patients do not receive enough information about the round-time, they cannot arrange their personal time in the hospital. The object of this study is to investigate the effect of the real-time round notification using text messages on the satisfaction of the inpatients.
Methods: We conducted an observational study to assess the effect of real-time round notification with text message transmission on the satisfaction of hospitalized patients. In Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, a quaternary-care medical center, the round-time notification system has been activated since January 2021. The rounds notification system is a short text message service that informs the beginning of the rounds. The satisfaction of the patients in 2020 (2020 group) and the patients in 2021 (2021 group) was compared using the patient experience assessment tool.
Results: From January 2020 to December 2020, 53 patients were enrolled (2020 group), and from January 2021 to December 2021, 47 patients were enrolled (2021 group). There was no statistically significant difference in patients’ baseline characteristics between the 2020 group and the 2021 group. Compared with the 2020 group, the 2021 group was improved in terms of satisfaction with providing information about the round-time (P < 0.001), and emotional support (P < 0.001). Regarding other indicators, the 2021 group showed an overall improvement compared to the 2020 group, but it was not statistically significant.
Conclusions: The real-time round notification using text message transmission has a great influence on the improvement of satisfaction. In the future, with the development of devices such as smartphones, various efforts to improve communication between healthcare providers and patients will enhance the quality of medical care.
